Me and My Shakespeare

Heaven and earth, must I remember!

2005-09-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus "The Greatest Show On Earth" and thouroughly enjoyed it. It was bright, flashy, stock full of talent, extremely well trained animals, and clownish humor.

I often feel like theatre ought to be less pretensious and more like the circus - just a good time. But at the same time, I love theatre with a little depth. Musicals can be fun, but often have little to think about (this is not true of all musicals, obviously!)

This may seem like a contradiction - I want the noise of the circus and the silence of thought. However, let's look at my artistic hero - Shakespeare (surprise, surprise), specifically Hamlet, which contains some of the best writing on earth. In Hamlet there are murders, ghosts, dumb plays, parties, and sword fights; there is insanity, intrigue, poison, sex, and revenge. Flashy, no? But then there are lines such as this:

"I have of late--but wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me."

Is this a revenge play or an existential essay?

Perhaps I'm spoiled - I want it all. I want humor, novelty, deep thoughts, and transcendence. I want love, fear, pain, celebration, death, and new life in all shows. It's a tall order, but I think if we all tried, the theatre would thrive again.

The title is from Hamlet, said by Hamlet when he's ruminating about his father's death and his mother recent marriage to his uncle. Being earthly creatures, our only saving grace is to think about heavenly things.

Brevity is the soul of wit

2005-08-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." -- Robert Wilensky

I like this quote and wanted to put it here. The title is oft quoted from Hamlet, and describes this entry.

We cry, that we are come to this great stage of fools

2005-08-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

There are several things I've learned from this production of Taming of the Shrew

* When I first started directing, I had decided that creating quality is not an end unto itself. For one, quality is debatable and for two, quality does not mean I'm living according to my principles. A good actor can have a crappy attitude. In this show, I realize how easy it is for me to not live by my principles - I have choosen less than loving attitudes. Love is a major principle of mine. I must remember to be more viligant in my attitude.
* Chaos breeds chaos. A chaotic director will create a chaotic atmosphere, bringing out the worst in people. Even if the director has good ideas, they are not respected when haphazardly presented.
* Our darker selves can be quite childish. Everyone I know in this show, including myself, has done at least one childish, stupid thing. Our attitudes have been quite poor. This has not helped. No matter how much I disagree or dislike a director's or actor's behavior, being mean or critical about it has hardly curbed the behavior. If anything, it enhances it. We're all imperfect. We need more patience with each other.
* While you can accept feedback from others, you must ultimately depend on yourself (and God, if you believe as such) to judge how you're doing. The ways other theatres (including professional theatres) do their shows, critics, and audience reaction do not determine your artistic achievement. What does? Well, yourself, I guess (perhaps the test of time, but I question that sometimes too). It's really anybody's ball game, so really one just has to have confidence in what one is doing.
* Even if you're confident in yourself, as a director, you still have to sell it to your actors, which includes selling yourself. Despite my disliking of many of the director's choices, not everything she has done is bad. Yet even the "good" stuff is often argued against because she doesn't bother to sell it and she has not won the respect of the cast.
* The world is a little bit crazy. Enjoy thyself anyway.

So that's some of the things I've learned. The title is from King Lear said by, surprise, King Lear in his semi-crazed state. King Lear is possibly my favorite of the Shakespeare shows.

Words, words, words

2005-07-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

In this blog I do intend,
To write words not to offend.
It's gonna be artsy,
It's gonna be funny,
It's gonna fill up your Shakespearean tummy.

What this blog is about: I like Shakespeare, ice cream, and long walks at the park. I'll probably talk about all three at some point.

And for now: Currently, I'm in Taming of the Shrew, playing Petruchio. Things have been quite chaotic up until this point, but it's starting to come together. However, I yearn to work with a good theatre group: organized, artistic, magical. I haven't had this for a while. Lately, theatre has been more stressful than fulfilling.

One of the things I'll want to talk about with this blog is what I think it takes to create a wonderful theatre experience, for actors and audience alike. I feel I'm one of the lucky minority to have experienced true magical theatre. Once you've had it, all theatre pales in comparison. I only hope that some day I can inspire such theatre for others.

The title of this blog is a parody of the Harry Nilssen song Me and My Arrow. The title of this entry comes from Hamlet, in response to an inquiry as to what he is reading. It's also what I intend to fill this blog up with.